I
am writing this letter to respond to the irresponsible allegations made
toward Mayor Michael Wildes in the article in The Record.
It has been suggested that Mayor Wildes has assisted in securing funds
for different organizations in the Englewood community for votes and political
clout. These funds, according to some eager dissenting voices of the mayor,
have been distributed as a political stunt and a manipulation of power.
I am writing to state another opinion on the matter.

First,
as an elected official for the city of Englewood I would hope that the
mayor would have some concern for the organizations in his or her community
and would want to see those organizations be as successful as they could
be. Many of the organizations that received funds were given them to support
their already existing or fledgling child/youth based programs. How does
a mayor get vilified for seeing that programs designed for the city's
youth find adequate resources? If the mayor had been contacted about the
organizations in the community that could use resources and he did not
know of any, would we see him as competent?

Would
that speak to a mayor that was familiar with and cared for the community?
If someone asked mayor Wildes what programs in your community could use
additional resources to only answer "I have no idea" or "I'm not sure,"
would we have confidence in his leadership? Would we think that he really
was involved with the Englewood community?

It
is sad to say that the line of community-service and political agenda
do get blurred in our city from time to time. That the desire to conquer
one another instead of working together for the common good can often
be missed in this community. That bad blood and bad memories and emotions
get mixed in with the focus of what good government ought to be, this
however I feel is not one of those times. If the mayor can find resources
to share with so many of the different organizations that affect so many
people of various groups and backgrounds, especially in this economy,
why would we look at as manipulative leadership? Michael Wildes has tried
as the mayor of Englewood to enhance its outreach to those in need, especially
our youth. I don't think that's manipulative at all, I think that's what
a mayor is supposed to do.